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At Least 25 Dead in Vietnam Floods as Country Braces for Typhoon Sarika

Weather agency forecasts wind speeds of up to 150 kilometers per hour

Vietnam's death toll from extreme weather is expected to rise, as the country braces for the powerful Typhoon Sarika after flooding caused by days of torrential rains left at least 25 people dead and four missing. Photo: Reuters

HANOI—Vietnam lifted the death toll Monday from flooding brought by torrential rains to at least 25 and was bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Sarika.

The typhoon passed through the Philippines over a heavily agricultural area of northern Luzon island over the weekend. Authorities said they were investigating whether two deaths on the island had been caused by the storm, which forced the evacuation of some 40,000 people and the cancellation of 321 flights.

A NASA image of Typhoon Sarika over the Philippines. Vietnam’s weather agency forecast wind speeds of up to 150 kilometers per hour.
Photo:
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Vietnamese disaster authorities were coping with the aftermath of flooding from a tropical low pressure event that brought rains of up to 900 millimeters to central parts of the country over the weekend. Disaster officials said that at least 25 people died and four were missing.

The floods were the worst to hit central Vietnam since 2011, when nearly 60 people were killed. Authorities said the flooding stopped services on the north-south railway line and isolated several villages. Floodwaters inundated about 121,000 homes and covered more than 14,500 hectares of cropland.

Vietnamese officials warned of more floods and landslides to come as Typhoon Sarika regroups over the South China Sea. Vietnam’s weather agency forecast wind speeds of up to 150 kilometers per hour and said the storm would be in striking distance of Vietnam’s northern coast by Wednesday morning.

Philippine and Vietnamese authorities are also on the alert for another typhoon—Haima—that is forming in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to move to the northern Philippines by midweek before veering north toward Taiwan and China.